New P.180 connectivity service not a Panasonic partner play

Panasonic and Cisco this week broadened their services lineups, with the former company opting for direct sales and the latter targeting the channel.

Panasonic expanded its mobility focus with the launch of the P.180 global connectivity service. The company said it has no plans for using Panasonic partner firms to offer the service.

According to Panasonic, the new connectivity service aims to provide enterprise customers and their mobile workforces with pricing predictability and no roaming fees. The service network uses Cubic Telecom's eSIM technology and global connectivity platform. The Cubic platform spans about 180 countries and 25 mobile operator partnerships and has 60 fully integrated networks, Panasonic said. Additionally, the P.180 service provides a management portal, allowing IT administers to view mobile data trends and control mobile data permissions. The offering will be sold through Panasonic's internal sales force.

"Obviously, the channel is important to our business. But if you look at the way in which today we go to market with our existing wireless technologies, with the relationships that we have with our other carriers, we are actually treating this no different than that type of relationship. So we will use our internal teams," said Brian Rowley, vice president of marketing and product planning at Panasonic, at the P.180 launch event in New York.

Rowley said working with channel partners is a large part of Panasonic's culture. The company has Panasonic partner programs for its computer and handheld businesses. "We get a lot of feedback from our channel partners every day ... and we're always looking at ways that we can make their business profitable for them and make the relationship one that's worth their time and for them to be committed to Panasonic as a brand." He noted the company has more than 100 partners.

As Panasonic assesses other areas of focus for its business, Rowley cited a possible opportunity for Panasonic partner companies to offer hardware as a service. "If we start to pursue [hardware as a service] further in regards to the direction that we are heading ... then there may be an opportunity for us to further engage with channel," he said.

Cisco, meanwhile, is targeting IT departments with new services that the company said take advantage of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Channel partners will be able to sell the new services.

The offerings, Business Critical Services and High-Value Services, provide predictive and preemptive capabilities, according to the company.

Business Critical Services, delivered via Cisco Advanced Services' technology personnel, aims to reduce complexity and cost through automation and orchestration, the company said. The services also provide analytics and machine learning capabilities, as well as automated compliance and remediation services. Cisco's High-Value Services, meanwhile, provides prescriptive service options at the software, solution, network and end-to-end infrastructure levels, the company said.

Joe Pinto, senior vice president of Cisco Technical Services said much of Cisco's services business flows through the channel. He estimated that 80% of Cisco Technical Services involves channel partners.